Odisha sees 67% voting in first phase polls

“Till the latest reports the voters' turnout was around 67 per cent and polls were largely peaceful as no incidents of violence were reported. Angul district registered the highest polling at 73 per cent followed by Jharsguda at 72 per cent and Bargarh at 69 per cent. The turnout was lowest at Malkangiri with 48.4 per cent”, said Mona Sharma, Chief Electoral Officer, Odisha. The enthusiasm of the people was very encouraging, she added.

However, the final report from remote areas are awaited and the turnout figures could go up by 3 to 4 percent after receipt of full information from these areas, sources in CEO office said.

The fate of 771 candidates, including 98 for Lok Sabha and 673 for Assembly constituencies, was sealed in the first phase poll.

Despite deployment of large posse of security personnels, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were snatched away by suspected naxal activists in ten polling stations – eight in Malkangiri and two in Koraput district- prior to the poling and aftermath. Sharma said re-polling will be conducted in these ten polling stations for which the date would be announced later. "We will apprise the Election Commission of the incident," she said.

Elaborate security arrangements were made for the constituencies, which fell within the naxal infested areas. About 429 coys of state police officers were posted in the violence-prone districts.

Similarly, two to three political complaints, including one from Rourkela, were received during the polls and the top officials intervened in the matter duly, she added.

Two casualties were reported, one each from Bolangir and Patngarh, during the polling. But the reason of these deaths can be verified only after autopsy, Sharma stated.

The Lok Sabha constituencies, where polling was held, were Kandhamal, Koraput, Kalahandi, Bargarh, Bolangir, Berhampur, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Aska, Nabarangpur.

Prominent leaders, who exercised their franchise, included state BJP President K V Singhdeo (Patnagarh), hockey legend Dilip Tirkey (Sundergarh), BJP leader and hotelier Dilip Ray (Rourkela). Similarly, senior Congress leader and former Union minister Chandrasekhar Sahu voted in Berhampur.

The political stalwarts whose fate was sealed today in the voting machines include Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patniak, two former chief ministers and Congress veterans, Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gomango and nine ministers of the ruling party.

Others prominent leaders in the fray were former Union minister Jual Oram (Sundergarh), sitting BJD MP, Kalikesh Singhdeo (Bolangir), cinestar Sidhant Mohapatra (BJD) (Berhampur),

The Hinjili Assembly seat in Ganjam district, from where the Chief Minister is seeking re-election for the fourth consecutive time, also went to polls today.